html - How to change SVG color when it is an encoded CSS background image?

Question

I have a SVG icon that is encoded in my CSS file. How do I change the color of it on hover without having a duplicate icon in a different color?

In my CSS file I have:

background-image: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 511.999 511.999'%3E%3Cpath fill='red' d='M83.578 167.256H16.716C7.524 167.256 0 174.742 0 183.971v300.881c0 9.225 7.491 16.713 16.716 16.713h66.862c9.225 0 16.716-7.489 16.716-16.713V183.971c0-9.229-7.525-16.715-16.716-16.715zM470.266 167.256c-2.692-.456-128.739 0-128.739 0l17.606-48.032c12.148-33.174 4.283-83.827-29.424-101.835-10.975-5.864-26.309-8.809-38.672-5.697-7.09 1.784-13.321 6.478-17.035 12.767-4.271 7.233-3.83 15.676-5.351 23.696-3.857 20.342-13.469 39.683-28.354 54.2-25.952 25.311-106.571 98.331-106.571 98.331v267.45h278.593c37.592.022 62.228-41.958 43.687-74.749 22.101-14.155 29.66-43.97 16.716-66.862 22.102-14.155 29.66-43.97 16.716-66.862 38.134-24.423 25.385-84.871-19.172-92.407z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E");

As you can see it's red from the fill='red' attribute.

When a user hovers over the icon with this background SVG, how can I change the color of it to blue? The only solution I see is to create another CSS class with the same SVG code except with a different fill color, but that just adds more to the file size and seems redundant.

Answer 1

You can use the filter property:

.box {
  background: url("data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' viewBox='0 0 511.999 511.999'%3E%3Cpath fill='red' d='M83.578 167.256H16.716C7.524 167.256 0 174.742 0 183.971v300.881c0 9.225 7.491 16.713 16.716 16.713h66.862c9.225 0 16.716-7.489 16.716-16.713V183.971c0-9.229-7.525-16.715-16.716-16.715zM470.266 167.256c-2.692-.456-128.739 0-128.739 0l17.606-48.032c12.148-33.174 4.283-83.827-29.424-101.835-10.975-5.864-26.309-8.809-38.672-5.697-7.09 1.784-13.321 6.478-17.035 12.767-4.271 7.233-3.83 15.676-5.351 23.696-3.857 20.342-13.469 39.683-28.354 54.2-25.952 25.311-106.571 98.331-106.571 98.331v267.45h278.593c37.592.022 62.228-41.958 43.687-74.749 22.101-14.155 29.66-43.97 16.716-66.862 22.102-14.155 29.66-43.97 16.716-66.862 38.134-24.423 25.385-84.871-19.172-92.407z'/%3E%3C/svg%3E") center/cover;
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
}

.box:hover {
  filter: hue-rotate(210deg);
}

<div class="box">

</div>